About Us

The Southeast AlabamaWorks Story

Southeast Alabama boasts regional cooperation, a skilled workforce, excellent business climate, mild weather, and multi-modal transportation opportunities. The region is defined by the ten southeastern counties of Alabama and is bordered by Georgia on the East and Florida to the South. These counties are strongly linked by cultural ties and commuting patterns and the area has been called the “Wiregrass” due to a grass that used to be in great abundance.

Our Vision

To develop a comprehensive, integrated, flexible, pro-active and on-demand workforce system that meets the education and training needs of employers, employees and potential employers and employees within the region.

Our Mission

The mission of the Southeast AlabamaWorks is to facilitate implementation of programs and services that support economic and workforce development in the region. Each program’s ultimate goal is to address the workforce needs of new and existing businesses and industries. The council shall be business led and market driven and shall be an integral part of a comprehensive workforce development system serving individuals and employers.

Southeast AlabamaWorks! Council Roster

Our Initiatives

Southeast AlabamaWorks believes to its core we have a substantial and diverse workforce with skills and backgrounds that will allow any industry to be successful in our region. We still believe in old-fashioned values of hard work, attention to detail and passion for the job are what holds the fabric of a company together. We work tirelessly in the pursuit of making sure the citizens of our region are properly trained and equipped with the skills it takes to be successful in their desired career. In our strategic plan, we set out a mission of objectives that we hold in high regards to work towards each and every day. Please see those goals and objectives below.

Promote a workforce development system in the region through the development of communication strategies among stakeholders and by advancing initiatives that support the efficient and effective use of resources.

Aggressively market the council’s goals and objectives to increase public understanding and participation in the council. Communicate the regional economic and workforce development trends and training services available. Build relationships with stakeholders by exhibiting program success and by providing workforce development solutions. Assist in recruiting and job placement efforts.

Assess current and future workforce capacity, skill development and training needs in the region. Expand the fiscal resources and ensure the investment of funding addresses established priorities.

Request and implement specific training programs based on employer needs that result in targeted grant applications from service providers. Monitor business and industry’s level of satisfaction and the overall impact to the workforce pipeline.

Maintain partnerships between employers, workforce development training providers (i.e., two-year colleges, ATN and K-12) and other stakeholders to ensure workforce and economic development programs and priorities are aligned.

The Alabama Workforce Council (AWC) serves as an advisory body in reviewing potential policies, recommending structure and alignment, developing innovative educational workforce programming, and discussing issues critical to the workforce development needs in Alabama. The AWC was created at the recommendation of Governor Bentley’s Career Readiness Task Force to foster collaboration between government, industry, and education.

The AWC is comprised of educators and business and industry executives from throughout the state tasked with ensuring that all Alabamians have the capacity to pursue their educational goals and realize long-term career opportunities. By harnessing the focus, strategic direction, combined efforts and expertise of these educational and workforce partners, Alabama can continue to make great strides in delivering the workforce that will power Alabama’s economic future.

Education & Industry Collaboration

Works with and through various education and industry groups, organizations, and trade associations to advise the education community on both ways to assist industry in preparing students or job candidates to enter the workforce and the best procedures for the state to collect workforce development data.

Marketing & Promotion

Seeks out the best ways to increase awareness and educate students or job candidates about available opportunities in various industry sectors. This committee is also tasked with evaluating the benefit of increasing the marketing associated with career readiness and skilled craft trades.

Reviews ways to streamline and align the existing workforce development functions of the state. This committee evaluates the standards for membership in and operations of the existing ten regional workforce development councils and also makes recommendations to realign the regional workforce councils.